Senator Murray took to the Senate floor to condemn the President’s phony emergency declaration and his move to raid money from military construction projects to build his unnecessary border wall
As a result of this reckless action by the Administration, Washington state will lose nearly $89 million in funding for a critical pier and maintenance facility at Naval Base Kitsap
Senator Murray also outlined new legislation that she will introduce to recoup military construction funds, put guardrails on future emergency declarations to protect military, national security priorities
Senator Murray: “I refuse to stand by and do nothing while this President hurts my state, and so many others. Why? Because he cares more about his vanity project than our troops, our military community, or the American people”
***VIDEO OF SENATOR MURRAY’S SPEECH AVAILABLE HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) called on her colleagues to rescind President Trump’s national emergency declaration that has fueled the humanitarian crisis at the southern U.S. border, and blasted the President’s subsequent raiding of military construction funds to build his border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for and that Congress has repeatedly refused to fund, on a bipartisan basis. In a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Murray also announced that she will be proposing new legislation in the coming days to roll back harm the President’s power grab caused and prevent similar abuses of executive power from taking place in the future.
“I have heard repeatedly from constituents who are upset by this President’s brazen acts of recklessness, and are wondering how the President of the United States can just step over Congress to do whatever he wants with our federal budget, especially when it’s on the backs of our troops and their families?” said Senator Murray. “I refuse to stand by and do nothing while this President hurts my state, and so many others. Why? Because he cares more about his vanity project than our troops, our military community, or the American people.”
Senator Murray’s remarks preceded an expected vote in the Senate on Wednesday to rescind President Trump’s phony emergency declaration. Earlier this month, President Trump announced that he would take $3.6 billion from military construction projects, including $88.9 million for a vital pier and maintenance facility at Naval Base Kitsap, to fund construction of his border wall. Additionally, President Trump cited his bogus national emergency declaration in stepping around Congress’ authority to set the nation’s budget and pay the country’s bills.
A vocal opponent of President Trump’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda, Senator Murray has firmly stood against President Trump’s efforts to erect his border wall and his accompanying national emergency declaration, introducing a bill in February to prevent the president from taking future action to raid federal coffers to fund his border wall, and previously condemning his most recent move to ransack military construction project funding.
Watch Senator Murray’s speech HERE:
Read the full text of Senator Murray’s remarks:
“Thank you, M. President.
“I join my Democratic colleagues on the floor today to once again speak out against this President, and his administration’s outrageous abuses of executive power.
“And while, unfortunately, there’s a myriad of Presidential abuses to which I could be referring, today, this evening, I’m here to discuss two of his most recent—and most egregious—actions that not only run afoul of Congress’ authority and our Constitutional system of checks and balances, but also compromise our national security.
“It began with the President making a phony national emergency declaration to bypass Congress and steal money to build his border wall under the auspices of a QUTOE UNQUOTE “crisis,” one of the President’s own making, in pursuit of advancing the most anti-immigrant agenda this country has seen in generations.
“All manufactured to secure federal funds to build his often-touted vanity wall on our southern border—a wall the American people weren’t supposed to pay for, and that we, time and again, have indicated we do not want.
“Now, you would think this extreme overreach of executive authority alone would get our colleagues on the other side of the aisle riled up enough to defend the Constitution’s system of checks and balances, but in declaring his national emergency, President Trump took his overreach one step further—ransacking critical federal funds, taxpayer dollars that were appropriated by Congress to fund important military construction projects and national security priorities across the country.
“To do what with? To put toward building his wasteful border wall.
“So, to be clear—instead of federal funds going toward military infrastructure priorities like building a new pier and maintenance facility at Naval Base Kitsap in my home state of Washington—that will help guide and protect our navy’s vital nuclear submarines—those funds are now going to pay for Trump’s border wall.
“And instead of our military using federal funds already authorized by Congress to increase access to child care for our servicemembers and their families—those funds are now going to pay for Trump’s border wall.
“M. President, while this behavior from our President is predictable, it is no less wrong, underhanded, and unacceptable, and I know I’m not the only one who thinks that way.
“Since the President’s rash move to reprogram billions of dollars from our military construction budget toward his border wall I have heard repeatedly from constituents who are upset by this President’s brazen acts of recklessness, and are wondering how the President of the United States can just step over Congress to do whatever he wants with our federal budget, especially when it’s on the backs of our troops and their families?
“M. President, I refuse to stand by and do nothing while this President hurts my state, and so many others. Why? Because he cares more about his vanity project than our troops, our military community, or the American people.
“So that’s why, in the coming days, I plan to introduce new legislation that will not only recoup the military construction funds that were shamefully raided for Trump’s border wall, but put in place new safeguards to make sure that no President today or in the future can so effortlessly bypass the will of Congress to loot the federal budget.
“We need to put a check on this President, plain and simple, and right now we can do so by standing up for Congress and our constitutional authority to set the federal budget and pay or nation’s bills.
“So I urge my colleagues to join Democrats in voting to rescind President Trump’s bogus national emergency declaration and taking a first step to roll back this President’s plunder and hold him accountable.
“Because, as a co-equal branch of federal government, it’s not just our job—it is our sworn duty, and one this body, and our Republican colleagues, cannot ignore.
“Thank you, M. President, I yield the floor.”
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